Your opinion, best mobo/CPU combo for $300?

[sdsumike619]

What's the best mobo / CPU combo for $300 (for a new NLE machine)
-- note, my graphics card is AGP

[redwudz]

I wondering why you are limiting your selection to a combo with a AGP card? Most newer MBs have went to PCI-E, DDR2 memory and SATA drives. Along with the PCI-E chipsets, there are a lot of improvements you may not find on a AGP, non-PCI-E motherboard.

It would help if you narrow down your options a little.

Start with the CPU. Intel or AMD? They have gotten closer in specs and prices lately. Faster is better. Dual core is nice too, and their prices have come down.

Then the motherboard. Stick with the major brands. Asus, Gigabyte and others.

Memory is usually set by the motherboard and CPU specs.

Video cards are set by the MB also. PCI-E can be as inexpensive as a AGP card. Video cards are just for displaying graphics, so they are not important for encoding or editing.

But, you wanted an opinion.

I've switched over to AMD AM2 CPUs lately. They offer a good value for the money. I also use DDR2 memory, which I find has much better bandwidth than DDR. And I use either a MB with built in PCI-E video or a economy PCI-E video card. With AMD, go for the Nvidia chipset as it still seems to be the best for that platform.

One setup for about $300:

ASUS M2N-MX Socket AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard (With onboard video)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131040

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Orleans 2.4GHz 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103631

mushkin Enhanced Performance 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) System Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146438

Just a suggestion. You would have to check compatibility and current prices.

[sdsumike619]

oh, to answer the agp question, it's because I already have a decent dual output agp card... I don't really want to replace it.... What is the least expensive dual monitor output pci express card I can get? I'm basically going to use this system in another office, so if I don't keep its video card for the new system, I can buy another card..

[MJA]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157097

this MB got both AGP,and PCI Express . SOCKET 939

Here is a list of socket 939 CPU's

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2010340343+50001028+1051707439&Submit=...ubCategory=343

I bought the Athlon 64 3000+ Venice for $152 last year now its only $64

[redwudz]

Hmm...Dual VGA monitor PCI-E cards aren't common and may be expensive. There are several Dual DVI cards, but that's no help.

So with your needs, and in a AMD platform, maybe a Athlon 64 Socket 939 MB. Sorry, I use AMD almost exclusively. Others can give you some Intel suggestions.

Maybe:

BIOSTAR TForce4U Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138270

AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 2.4GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103529

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145440

About $335US. You should look around more, though. There are many combinations available. Still, the fastest CPU you can fit into the package for the price is usually the best. As before, Nvidia chipsets seem to work best with AMD, IMO.

[sdsumike619]

check this out:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=470&model2=436&chart=185

[jagabo]

Fry's has a Core 2 Duo 6300 with ECS micro ATX motherboard on sale this weekend for $200 (no cooler). The motherboard has an ATX slot and will accept either DDR 400 or DDR2 533 DRAM (only two slots for each though). I got one to update an old 2.8 GHz P4 and used my old ATX graphics card and memory.

I ran a few quick benchmarks with VirtualDubMod+Xvid and TMPGEnc. It's twice as fast as the P4 2.8 in TMPGEnc, about 50 percent faster in VirtualDub+Xvid (multithreaded version of Xvid). Someday I'll get a better motherboard and overclock the CPU.

[sdsumike619]

jagabo, how did u find out about this sale already ?
the Core 2 Duo 6300 is the 1.86GHz right?
any specifics on th ECS board? That's what I have now and I'm not too fond of it..

[jagabo]

jagabo, how did u find out about this sale already ?

Fry's weekend sales start on Friday. I picked the board and CPU up this morning, installed it this afternoon.

the Core 2 Duo 6300 is the 1.86GHz right?

Yes, the slowest of the Core 2 Duos.

any specifics on th ECS board? That's what I have now and I'm not too fond of it..

The motherboard is an ECS P4M800Pro-M V2.0. Seems to be the same as this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135027

I wasn't expecting much since it essentially comes free with the CPU. I figured I would just buy a decent motherboard if this one turned out to be total trash. So far it's working OK.

[sdsumike619]

Wow I think you solved my dilemma, that board has an AGP slot for my older videocard, and I'll get a super fast processor!... It was either going to be that or the Athlon 64 X2 3800+

Where do you think the E6300 falls on this chart:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=430&model2=464&chart=185

[jagabo]

Where do you think the E6300 falls on this chart:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=430&model2=464&chart=185

Probably between 6:30 and 7:00.

[lordsmurf]

I would not buy anything that has VIA chips. So no ECS, no Shuttle, none of that crap. I don't know what you can get for $300, check for sales. If you have something like Fry's or Microcenter near you, that would be good.

[sdsumike619]

damn that sucks... how bad would the performance be with that motherboard? it still has to be faster than the pentium d's right?

[jagabo]

I used to have a very negative opinion of Via chipsets too. I had many problems with them back in the P3 and Athlon XP days. But the last two I've tried (both of which came "free" with a CPU), an ECS that came with my A64 X2 3800+, and now the ECS P4M800Pro-M V2.0 that came with the E6300, are working fine. The A64 motherboard has been running for a year and I don't think I've ever seen it crash or have a hardware problem. Of course, the E6300 motherboard has only been running for six hours...

[sdsumike619]

any thoughts on the overclocking thing? That article I read was really promising about the e6300 chip

[lordsmurf]

damn that sucks... how bad would the performance be with that motherboard? it still has to be faster than the pentium d's right?

VIA chipsets have these "one size fits all" awful drivers. I cannot imagine a motherboard being any worse than the stuff VIA pukes together. As have most others in the past, I had to learn that lesson the hard way. I suggest you learn from our mistakes, and go right for the Intel boards. There are some others that I see suggested, from Asus, Foxconn, and others. Just be sure whatever you have is not VIA-based. For AMD CPUs, I believe the nVidia is the one to get these days.

But for video, I honestly suggest a Intel motherboard with an Intel CPU, whatever you can budget for. It may "cost more" and be "less bang for the buck" (a la AMD garbage grassroots marketing), but at least it will work solid, and with video use in mind. I believe that is what you're after? A good video machine?

[sdsumike619]

Yep, well ASUS, according to the videoguys.com DIY machines are the best... I'll probably just go ahead and buy the E6300 chip and a better board than the ECS,, you're right

[redwudz]

I tend to agree with lordsmurf on the VIA chipset MBs. They are crap at overclocking in my experience. I still recommend Nvidia chipsets for AMD. Maybe VIA has improved, or ULI or some other obscure chipsets, but Nvidia seems to have the edge at present.

Now that ATI has gotten more involved with chipsets, some of their newer chipset MBs are looking promising. But those are mostly all AM2 and DDR2 motherboards.

AGP is more or less on the way out and no more development is likely. DVI or similar digital video is becoming the standard, along with other higher end systems that use SLI video setups.

If you want to stick with AGP, you are somewhat limited to older chipsets and CPUs. The Athlon CPUs are available at decent prices of late. But don't invest too much as CPUs like the 64 bit AM2, DDR2 and the dual core CPUs seem to be becoming the standards for the near future, at least with the AMD CPUs.

[jagabo]

If you're looking at overclocking a Core 2 Duo:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/core2duo-e6300.html

[MJA]

if you wanna keep your AGP card ULI is the way to go ,it also got PCI-E slots

[Jester700]

ASRock is the "value" line of ASUS, and they have a few good choices that I'm looking at, since I want to keep my dual monitor AGP card and 1GB of PC3200 memory myself.

The ASRock 775Dual-VSTA is a VIA board and as such is out of the running. Technically, it can be overclocked to 340FSB, but few have gotten it above 300 stably. <$60

The Asrock 775i65g is an Intel 865 board and looks OK. Only 3 PCI slots (that's all I need, but ya never know) and onboard video to disable, but no biggie. Limited overclocking - few RAM voltage settings and NO CPU voltage settings, but FSB is limited to 300 anyway, so you wouldn't need them. Easy, safe OC of an E6300 to 2.1GHz or an E6400 to 2.4GHz, but that's it. It's only $50

The asrock conroe865pe has no onboard vid and 5 PCI slots, but is otherwise similar. This is the one I'm looking closest at, but it's not available in the US yet that I've seen.

The ASUS p5pe-vm is similar to the Asrock 775i65g, but no overclocking at all. It DOES have gigabit ethernet.

I may wait to see what the E4300 CPU looks like in Q1 '07. I do't really NEED an update yet.

[sdsumike619]

thanks a bunch - I'll probably get one of the ones you mentioned... I'm starting to get a little ridiculous with this decision (I'm upgrading from an Athlon 1800XP+ lol)

Wait, these boards don't run the core 2 duo chips do they ?

[Jester700]

Wait, these boards don't run the core 2 duo chips do they ?

Yes, though one of them needs the latest board revision for it, and I forget which (I THINK the Asrock 775i65g, but don't quote me).